I am in need of assistance. I own a Compaq Presario Notebook, Model 2700US. A little over a month ago I sent it in for repairs through Best Buy. I had an extended warranty that was about to expire. My power socket in the computer was loose causing the computer not to get any power, nor allowing the battery to be charged. Upon its return the power socket was repaired, but I began to notice that the computer would “lock-up” after a number of hours of use. As time continued the duration of normal use was slowly reducing before it would “lock-up.” I was able to image the hard drive, and attempted to reinstall Windows XP Pro. Every time I attempted to install XP the computer would “lock-up” before the install process was complete. It has gotten to the point now that the hard drive cannot even be detected. I have used various forms of boot disks and ntfsdos readers to see and reformat the disk. None of these tools detects the drive. It is my belief that the hard drive has gone bad, and I am now attempting to remove the drive for testing and possible replacement. I have removed all the screws from the underside of the laptop, as I do not see any bays to access the hard drive. I have gotten to the point where I have most of the case separated with the exception of an area in the upper left corner of the keyboard. When I look I cannot find any additional screws to remove to allow me to get complete access to the hard drive. Can anyone help me with giving me ideas to access the hard drive? (No I don’t want to throw it and smash it, although it has crossed my mind.) And is my assessment of the problem correct, or am I overlooking something?

I do remember some older laptop designs that the hard drive was underneath the keyboard.

Put the screws back in. Contact the people who repaired the computer and tell them about hte problems you are having. Once your computer is out of warranty, you will have to pay for the repairs unless you can prove that it was a pre-existing fault. Don't give them an excuse to argue!